This post was made in partnership with Kerrygold Irish Cream. Recipe and ideas are my own.
This past Christmas we were gifted several POUNDS of chocolates. And yes, you would be correct to assume that’s a lot of chocolate. These boxes lasted us well into the new year and now, a few days into February the crunch of salted almond bark and the heavy, chewy nougat still linger in my memory. And gosh, next week is Valentine’s Day already!
I told my husband that this year I would like flowers, and maybe some burgers, but please don’t buy me a box of chocolates. Still, Valentine’s Day doesn’t seem like a holiday without something sweet. So this year I’ve decided that something light, with a hint of chocolate, and a tart burst of fruit would suit my palate more. And hey, why not throw some booze in there too?
I’ve teamed up with Kerrygold Irish Cream to make my alternative to a box of chocolate bon bons this year: Passion Fruit and Kerrygold Irish Cream Cocktail Jellies. More petite than your average jello shot, with a refined taste similar to what you’d expect from a fancy sweets shop. These are pretty low on the ABV scale but still, adults only!
I love a fruit gelée and right now I’m on a passion fruit kick. That sweet-tart golden liquid is a wonderful contrast to the rich, creamy Kerrygold Irish Cream. With a hint of chocolate, real cream and a touch of Irish whiskey, you don’t need to add much to these jellies to make a delicious treat; you just need a little patience.
A few notes for this recipe:
- Flexible molds are excellent if you want to make these into shapes and have them free standing. Alternatively, you can also pour these into baking cups and peel the paper off once set.
- Passion fruit puree is best instead of juice flavor-wise. If you use pure or freshly made passion fruit juice then do not add water, use only juice.
- Setting times will vary depending on your mold. The smaller hemisphere molds take a shorter time to set than a large sheet pan of liquid. To test, give your pan or mold a little jiggle in the fridge. If it sloshes around it’s not set to layer yet. Wait until it jiggles but is not stiff.
- You can absolutely makes these even more ‘adult’ by mixing in vodka to the passion fruit puree. Start with a two tablespoons to the passion fruit liquid and adjust from there. Setting times may increase with more vodka.
- These are best served shortly after being removed from the refrigerator.
Passion Fruit and Kerrygold Irish Cream Cocktail Jellies
1/2 cup passion fruit puree
1/2 cup water
3 packets gelatine
2 cups Kerrygold Irish Cream, divided
pinch of salt
Make the passion fruit layer first: pour water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. In a wide bowl, pour in passion fruit puree. Sprinkle one packet of gelatine over the top. Let sit a few minutes until bloomed (no granules should be visible). Once bloomed, pour the boiling water over the passion fruit and whisk until the gelatine is dissolved. Pour passion fruit mixture into the bottom of your molds and refrigerate one hour or until it starts to set (see note above).
Next, make the Kerrygold Irish Cream layer: pour 1 cup of the Kerrygold Irish Cream and pinch of salt into a small saucepan and bring to just under a boil. In a wide bowl, pour in the second cup of Kerrygold Irish Cream. Sprinkle one packet of gelatine over the top. Let sit a few minutes until bloomed (no granules should be visible). Once bloomed, pour the hot Kerrygold Irish Cream over the bloomed gelatine mixture. Whisk until combined and then slowly pour over the almost set passion fruit layer. Refrigerate. Allow to set completely 6 hours or overnight.
To serve the jellies: for round molds, carefully run a small spoon around the edge and slowly invert the mold to pop out. If using square or straight-sided molds, run a butter knife around the edge and slowly invert the mold to pop out the shot. For other shapes or non-flexible molds, dip the bottom of the mold in warm water for 15 seconds, invert mold onto a baking sheet, and gently tap the mold to release the jellies. Jellies can be refrigerated for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
For a brief period of time in my late 20’s, my husband and I threw some really fun Halloween parties (and Tiki parties, and Christmas parties, and OH BOY do we love a themed party). But now that we have our little family here we tend to go out for parties now, leaving the themes for others to make. Halloween night, though, we’ve started having a party for 2.
If you’ve been visiting this site for some time, you know I L-O-V-E making adult jellies (or jell-o shots or what-have-you). You can forget everything you knew about those terrible things you choked down in college, and instead congratulate yourself on making a sophisticated treat with this recipe. And just for balance, I’m going to cut mine out in bat shapes for Halloween—I don’t want to be that serious. (You could just as easily put them in a spherical mold or pour your mixture in a non-stick baking pan and cut squares out too.)
Another fun part of this recipe is that you get to go out and buy a bag of candy for the infusion. My Scandinavian side of the family dictates that IÂ must enjoy black licorice but on the rare occasions that I do have a bag of it in the house, I am the only one who touches it and I almost always have too much left over. However, any extras that are leftover this time, go into today’s infusion!
Today we’ve teamed up with 
Licorice Infusion (2 options)
Procrastination has gotten the better of me this week as we speed, much too fast for my liking, into the 3rd month of the year. March is looking to be the most jam packed month yet this year as I’ve said “yes” to maybe one too many events, my mother is in town, and we celebrate multiple birthdays, St. Patrick’s Day (I am a 1/4 Irish), and Easter. So of course, instead of working on projects, I’ve been covering my ears and eyes going NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH and making batches of brownies and spending copious amounts of time photographing my purse contents.
It’s like a cocktail, but you eat it: Irish Coffee Jello Shots.
So here’s the thing. I enjoy an Irish Coffee from time to time; like, a few sips and then I’m usually done. It’s a lot of hot coffee and I’m usually drinking it late in the evening when a giant hot coffee is not really what I want right then. I’m also usually drinking them at a party or an event and bless their hearts for trying, but the coffee is usually not very good either. To control this situation for myself, and hopefully for you all, let’s get a delicious coffee and miniaturize it with the right amount of booze and not force people to drink giant hot coffees at 8pm.
I went ahead and created a straight up Irish Coffee version, garnished with the tiniest of lemon peel, and then bastardized it and went crazy adding in chocolate and Fernet Branca because I love chocolate mint anything including my coffee and for this one occasion, with my whiskey. Ooooh, I’m so crazy…
The original version of these has a strong, rich coffee flavor with a hint of whiskey at the finish. The cream is mixed in so you’re not trying to eat a delicate jello shot while whipped cream melts all over your fingers – gross. For the mocha-mint version, you get a lot of Fernet (a little goes a long way!) with a strong mocha finish and a more subtle whiskey punch at the end.
Irish Coffee Jello Shots (Makes 24, 2/5 ounce shots)
Are you guys into these? I have a few more ideas up my sleeve I’ll be rolling out over the next few months.